


Stuck in an Elevator

by stripes_and_dots_etc



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Hurt/Comfort, It's just them in an elevator, That's it, mild description of panic, nothing more severe than depicted in the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-07 23:58:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12243120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stripes_and_dots_etc/pseuds/stripes_and_dots_etc
Summary: Eleanor and Chidi get stuck in an elevator.





	Stuck in an Elevator

 

 

**#642**

The elevator jerked to a stop and went dark before the flood lights flickered on. Chidi stared at the ceiling as Eleanor exclaimed, "Oh, you've got to be forking kidding me!"

"The elevator stopped."

"No shirt.  _Of course_ the elevator gets stuck now! It's not like I was doing anything important. Why do good things happen to mediocre people?" Eleanor paced a tight circuit from the front of the elevator to the back. Then she glanced at Chidi and slowed to a stop. He was still staring at the ceiling, his mouth agape. "Uh, Chidi? Are you all right? You look like you're about to lose your chicken salad. I told you not to eat it. Who knows what sick thing Tahani did to it."

"I-it - no. Th-the chicken salad was fine."

"It looked delicious," said Eleanor wistfully. "I can't believe Tahani tricked me into not eating her chicken salad."

"Th-the elevator."

"What?"

"Has stopped."

"So?"

"Oh god," he said quietly. Then gasped. "Oh god. The elevator has stopped. Eleanor!" His head jerked down to stare at her, wide-eyed. "The  _elevator_ has  _stopped_."

"Chidi"-

He bent over, hands braced on his knees, and gasped for breath. "We're going to die."

"We did that."

"We'll be stuck in here for all eternity!"

Eleanor watched as Chidi began hyperventilating. This was not her area. She looked around the elevator, but there was no where to hide. Maybe if she stood quietly in the corner then Chidi would forget about her and he wouldn't expect her to do anything. She couldn't do anything. What did you even do when someone... broke? Slapping him and ordering him to stop being pathetic did... not... seem right. Which, weird. 

Her spine straightened and she beamed at the realization that she didn't want to hurt Chidi. She was becoming a good person! Ha! She had to tell- Oh. Right. She watched as Chidi heaved from his bent position. She had to do something. It was uncomfortable seeing Chidi in distress. Although, the nerd did seem distressed more often than not. She shook her head and braced herself for kindness. "Chidi," she said, mimicking the polite tone Chidi used, "calm down. It won't be eternity."

"What if the elevator plummets?"

Huh. Could elevator's plummet in the Good Place? "We won't die," she offered.

"We could be  _injured_."

Could you get hurt in the Good Place? Wow. She was becoming a bigger nerd than Chidi with her dumb philosophical questions. Philosophical? Doesn't matter. "It's heaven, Chidi." She hoped that he would reach the conclusion that they couldn't be injured on his own.

"I still get stomach aches in heaven, Eleanor!"

"Oh, fork," she muttered, because that was a good point. Chidi clutched his stomach and groaned. Fork. "Listen, we'll be fine. The elevator will be fixed and all this will just be a major inconvenience. Our bones won't get crushed." Chidi didn't respond. Eleanor wasn't sure if he could even hear her over his panic attack. She glanced longingly at the corner, but she _couldn't_ leave Chidi all alone. Being a good person  _sucked_.

Tentatively she reached out a hand and placed it on his back. Chidi's gasping stuttered to a stop. For a horrifying moment Eleanor worried that she had made things worse for him. But he didn't yell at her or shrug her hand away."We'll be okay, Chidi. Maybe if I was alone then the elevator would plummet. It'd be belated karma. But you're here and you are a good person. No way is the Good Place letting your bones get crushed."

Chidi didn't respond, but he did start breathing again. After a minute it evened out and he turned his head slightly, not quite looking at her. Softly he asked, "You really think that?"

"Duh. So calm down, you big baby." Chidi stood with a huff of mixed amusement and exasperation. Eleanor snatched her hand back and looked away. Neither said anything for a minute, then Eleanor groaned. "It's been a forking long time, though! I have things to do. Chidi! You're smart. Fix the elevator."

"Eleanor, I'm an ethics professor."

"I'm an ethics professor," she mocked.

"Okay. Don't be childish."

"Don't be childish."

"Eleanor! You were being so nice. Can we go back to that?"

She sucked in a breath to mock him again, then froze. "Holy shirt," she breathed. Chidi eyed her warily. She grabbed his arm and shook it. "Holy shirt! This isn't the Good Place! It's the Bad Place!"

"What? Don't be ridiculous."

"Think about it! Would the Good Place have elevators that get stuck? I mean, we've been in here for  _hours_."

"Minutes."

"This is torture. Guess who's a huge forking fan of torture? The Bad Place!"

"But if this is the Bad Place, that means I'm here because I'm a bad person. What could I have done to"- He gasped. "Oh, no. Almond milk."

"What?"

"That's why I'm here, Eleanor," he cried, boarding on panic again. "I read about the environmental impact of almond farming, and I kept drinking the almond milk!"

"You are the biggest nerd. Not gonna lie, it's kinda hot. But we have bigger things to think about than almond milk. We're in the Bad Place, Chidi. What are we going to do?"


End file.
